Edison rant

[RStar]

My electric bill from Socal Edison runs $60-100 normally. Running fans during the heat of the summer and the heater during cold winter days take it to the higher end, and at Christmas it can go as high as $120 from the massive decorating I do and all of the holiday cooking with my electric appliances.

Two years ago I switched over to all LED Christmas lights. My bill stayed at the approx $60 it was the month before. I was extremely pleased, as the strings are only (I think I read on the tag) 0.4 watts each.

Then I got my bill a few days ago. Over $500! :eek:

They say on my bill "actual read" of the meter, but I think they have been guessing. It's difficult to see my meter in the back yard, so I think the meter reader was being lazy. Catching up all at once has kicked me into tier 5, the most expensive price. This isn't fair! And at a time when I'm off work for a month after foot surgery! :(

They are sending someone to make sure the meter reading is correct, and make sure someone is not stealing power from me. Perhaps I have a pot farm instalation down the road! ;)

So, the only recourse I can see is if they charge me the KWH in tier 1, but I'll still owe an extra $300 I can't afford right now. Maybe they'll let me pay it off over a set amount of time.

I just don't need this stress right now. It's not my fault they didn't read the meter right! I don't read my water or gas meters either to check they are right. Is that what they expect people to do?

/rant

[alphabassettgrrl]

That's awful... I hope they fix it.

[Gemini Cricket]

Yikes. I hope they fix it, too. That's a huge amount!

[katiesue]

I'm sorry - that sucks. When my Mom's house was empty the power used would fluxuate huge amounts. I couldn't ever figure out what was going on. No one was in the house so the usage should have been fairly steady.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

Request that they *always* read the meter. Don't let them estimate. Many times the estimate can be way off, so it screws up bills down the line (i.e. knocking the rate into a more expensive tier)

[JWBear]

I got an electric bill once that was over $1000. I had them come re-read it. The 1st read was wrong. The guy had transposed numbers. It should have been about $70.

[Kevy Baby]

It has been a while since I looked at the actual bill (Susan takes care of it), but don't they put the actual meter reading on the invoice? You might be able to go check yourself in an effort to lower your blood pressure (until Edison gets a read).

Just a thought

[scaeagles]

One thing I have available in Phoenix is a payment plan where for 6 months you pay the average of the previous 12 months. I used to have anything from $50 in January to $350 in July. If they make a mistake in reading (which they had done before but can't do anymore because they switched it all to digital meters with USB ports to download everything to a computer), it then wouldn't be a problem because it would correct itself the next month and everything would average out.

Is anything like that available there?

[Mousey Girl]

Has Edison switched to the "Smart Meter"? That is what PG&E did up here. It is causing a whole mess of billing problems, to the point that PG&E is being sued.

[€uroMeinke]

SCE is starting to roll out Smart Meters, which will download your usage on a continuous basis and also allow you to monitor your energy usage. PG&E had first generation Smart Meters that they are now in the process of replacing (as Mousey Girl mentioned, they have had numerous problems).

definitely follow-up on your account history - estimating reads happens when a meter isn't accessible, but over a 2-year period would be extremely unusual. while more appliances are more energy efficient, the number of "always on" devices is sometimes a hidden power suck, other major culprits are 2nd refrigerators/freezers, space heaters, and certain large screen TVs. Energy theft is always a possibility especially when you see such spikes - pot farm usually bypass the meter altogether though.

[RStar]

No smart meter here.

And I have not changed anything in the last year, other than going from a 32" old picture tube TV sucking up 1,200 watts to a 52" LCD flat screen that uses 280 watts. And I have changed 90% of my lighting to CFLs or LEDs. I've worked hard at lowering my usage.

I could go on the "Level Pay Plan" where they average out the year in the first 11 months, and you make up the difference in the 12th month (or get a credit if you over payed). Buy now I don't have a good 12 month history to go on.

I looked at the meter, and the read looks right to me. But according to my bill I used 550 kWh in Dec. and 2,399 kWh in Jan!?!? The only difference from Dec to Jan is I took down my Christmas lights at the begining of Jan. That would mean less usage.

I just looked at my last month bill and it does say "estimated read". They changed the format on the billing a while back and I never noticed that. I remember it saying "actual read". WTF is an estimated read? Either you read it or you estimate it. That's like saying I almost payed my taxes to the IRS. They won't let that slide, but I'm expected to let Edison slide? I don't think so. And this bill only says "read", no "actual" or "estimated". Wierd.

There is no good line of site of the meter, so I'm pretty sure it's been estimated.

[DreadPirateRoberts]

If they estimate too low for a few months, an "actual" read would show a jump in the bill similar to what you are seeing. That's why I request an "actual" read, the estimation errors can't accumulate.

[Mousey Girl]

Call them and if necessary, they will make payment arrangements with you.

[RStar]

Well, they came out and read the meter. The read is correct. Now I get to make up over 2,000 kWh. I first need to make sure they change them to tier 1 and then make payments. It's tough because I'm out of work right now and trying to figure out how to pay my bills as it is.....

What horrible timing!!!

[katiesue]

Did they give you any explination for the jump?

[RStar]

No, I still have to call the office and talk to them about it. At this point all they know is that my usage went up four fold last month.

[MouseWife]

Which is impossible, right?

I actually have to check my water meter/bills. See, with the rains, mud has covered it and you can't see it. My son asked 'Didn't we used to have something right there?' I need to check if it was cleared as I did receive a water bill the other day.

They should come into your home and show you where those came from. Don't they offer that, where they come in and tell you how you can conserve? When they do this, they will see you conserve everywhere and so how can that many kwhs be used?

I wish you luck with this and they will have to make arrangements with you. This may be good timing for you, perhaps you can get onto a program that will help you have lower payments year long. Do they offer that up there? I know here they do.

Please keep us informed as to what happens.

Chris, how to pot farms not get picked up?

[RStar]

Which is impossible, right?

I actually have to check my water meter/bills. See, with the rains, mud has covered it and you can't see it. My son asked 'Didn't we used to have something right there?' I need to check if it was cleared as I did receive a water bill the other day.

They should come into your home and show you where those came from. Don't they offer that, where they come in and tell you how you can conserve? When they do this, they will see you conserve everywhere and so how can that many kwhs be used?

I wish you luck with this and they will have to make arrangements with you. This may be good timing for you, perhaps you can get onto a program that will help you have lower payments year long. Do they offer that up there? I know here they do.

Please keep us informed as to what happens.

Chris, how to pot farms not get picked up?

Thanks, MouseWife! Yes, they have the "Level Pay Plan" here where they take the average of your history, and spread that over 11 months. On the 12th month you make up the difference. This works great for folks who have central air and heating, so their usage gets real high during parts of the year. But that's not what happends to me so much. And now I don't think I have a good workable history because we don't know how long they have been estimating, but I think it's been at least 15 months minimum.

And no, this is not a good time for me. It's the worst time, as I am out of work due to surgery. And on top of it, I just found out today that my medical insurance is going up $200/month! :( I'm now paying the same amount for medical insurance that most people pay for rent on a 1 bedroom apt!

And the pot farms usually get picked up eventually because usage increases more than what they bill the area for. So they know a general location, but narrowing it down to a structure is harder. They have to look for where someone is tapping into wires before the meters. I have heard on the news that this is how they have found some of them.